Lucas Leiva will be staying at Anfield until the summer at least – as Brendan Rodgers issued a firm ‘not for sale’ message to his Italian suitors.

Both Rafa Benitez at Napoli and more persistently Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan have been linked with a possible move for the Brazilian midfielder, with figures starting in the region of £8m being quoted in Italy.

But Brendan Rodgers today issued a clear message that the 28-year-old would remain as part of his Reds squad for the second half of this season at least.

“No, he is not one that we would want to lose in January,” said Rodgers. “There will be speculation over the course of the month on a lot of players. It is not something I would be willing to do in January. Of course at the end of the season everything is looked at again but the team is in a good momentum.”

Rodgers said he had spoken to Lucas about his future but confirmed the club had not received any bids for him: “We have had nothing from them (Inter). I think he’s just enjoying playing and he’s playing very well.”

Lucas’s return to the starting line-up has coincided with a strong upturn in Liverpool’s form this season, with their only defeat in the last 12 coming when he was an unused substitute at Old Trafford in mid-December.

His defensive stability has allowed Rodgers to employ a new 3-4-2-1 formation with the likes of Lazar Markovic, Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo employed as attacking wing-backs.

“The team is in a good flow, we are starting to find our feet and players are starting to adapt and work really well so I don’t need to disrupt them,” he said.

“The two central midfielders have been vital for us because it requires a lot of work for the two of them. It requires Jordan (Henderson) and Lucas or whoever is in there having to fan out to wide areas of the field to block, while others were covering, so him and Jordan were outstanding last week. That gives the flair and creative players the chance to play”.

And Rodgers believes it was Liverpool’s attacking intent last year that contributed to Lucas’s struggles – his best displays have always been when employed as a midfield ‘sitter’ – and led many to believe his future might lie away from Anfield. In his 29 appearances last season he was used as a substitute twice as many times as he had been in Rodgers’ first season.

“It was just the set up of the team,” said Rodgers.

“Last year we were a team that was set up with a playmaker from behind. We never played with a defensive midfielder really and we played with a playmaker. Steven (Gerrard) was called a defensive one but that wasn’t the case.

“We had fast players running behind that needed to play off longer passes so we played him there. In advance of that we had two midfield players who could go and join in.

“When we flipped to a diamond, it was a similar idea, start the game from behind.

“When you move system and change, not the style, but the system it of course requires different things and when you need a defensive midfielder, he (Lucas) has come in and done that.”

The news will come as a relief to many fans who had expressed concern that a move away for the popular Brazilian would leave Liverpool woefully short of defensive midfield cover.

Lucas, who only turned 28 last week, signed a new Liverpool contract in April 2013 after returning from serious thigh and cruciate knee ligament injuries in previous seasons. Described at the time as “long-term” it is understood to stretch until 2017.